Polishes -OPI - La Boheme
mudpie1964 3/25/2009 2:19:00 PM
OPI's La Boheme in the bottle seems to be a dark red with sparkles of gold, green, and red. On my nails, after two coats, I saw none of the green and only slight gold sparkle. Under indoor lighting it seems to be a very dark sparkly red; however, when you go outdoors it turns a dark sparkly plum color. (This is why I gave it 3 lippies instead of 4 - I don't like plum.) Also, when I took this off the cotton ball was plummy-purple so that would be the base color tone of La Boheme - plum. I was looking for dark red. (If your looking for La Boheme but in RED I would suggest Changing of the Garnet.) The application was perfect in two coats - totally opaque and looked like glass. It lasted five days with only minor tip wear (which one would get with dark colors) and minor crazing. Overall, it's a great polish but I wouldn't buy it or use it again because of the plum base; however, if you can wear plum this would be perfect.
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Polishes -OPI - Movin' Out
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 9:46:00 AM
OPI's Movin' Out is basically a semi-sheer purple with red-pink-fuschia microglitter. I used this only as a top coat over Blushingham Palace. I had read reviews first that it was semi sheer and after testing it on one nail I knew there was no way it was going to ever get to bottle color without many, many layers. So, IMO this is more of a top coat unless you like really sheer polish (which I don't). I've layered it over other OPI polishes and come up with great color combos. The application was great - smooth, dried quickly, no bubbles.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -OPI - Designer Series - DS Signature
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 9:22:00 AM
OPI's Designer Series Signature is a neutral magenta plum-based holographic polish. The holo is multicolored with gold, red, and orange being the dominant colors (at least on me - there are pink, silver, and blue mixed in with the holo also). I have yellow tones in my skin so overall this color was just not doing it for me. I'm not fond of plum colors but the holo at least makes it interesting. However, I wouldn't buy this again just because I find the base color kind of boring. The application was perfectly smooth and opaque in two coats and highly shiny (no top coat needed if you don't want - but I did add one). Lasting time, however, was not so good (knocked off a lippie for that). I got chips at day three which I rarely get with other OPIs. The Designer Series collection is also very expensive for a polish (12.50) so I better be loving a color to fork out those bucks. Alas, I don't love this one.
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Polishes -Orly - Toast the Couple
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 9:10:00 AM
Orly's Toast the Couple is a very highly frostly pinkish-beige nude. This is one of the worst colors I've seen. Very 1970s IMHO. The polish was opaque at two coats but just soooo frosty. The application was slightly difficult because of the frost factor (visible brush strokes) but smooth. The rubberized handle has got to be the best invention ever. I can't comment on wear time because I didn't leave this on long enough for it to chip or wear because I thought it looked so bad. However, if you're one for frosty polish, go for it.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -OPI - Nail Polishes
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 8:50:00 AM
OPI polishes are my HG, go-to nail polishes. Whenever I stray away to another brand, I always find myself coming back to OPI. The finish and wear-time alone are worth every penny on these. They're highly shiny (I haven't found one yet that dries to a dull finish) and I always get at least five days out of a manicure before I find chips and minor crazing. If I didn't type all day, I don't even think there would be edge wear (but haven't been able to test an OPI on vacation yet). There are some OPIs with the new formula that tend to be a little gloopy but that's easily fixed with a couple of drops of polish thinner. I wasn't a fan of the ProWide brush at first but now, after using it for a while, I can't do without it. So all in all, two thumbs up for OPI.
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Polishes -OPI - Designer Series - DS Opulence
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 8:40:00 AM
OPI's Designer Series Opulence is a medium rosy mauve holographic polish. While this color is pretty and sparkly like all holos are, it's basically a sparkly mauve but with a weird green flash in some lighting. It's still pretty but not something I'd spend 12.50 on again (although I said I would buy it again because I would if I found it on sale). The holo effect on this one is different than on, say, Chiffon or Elegance - it's more like a glitter effect. The application was a tad off. It has the new formula and while it applied well, I found it a little gloopy. Once I was finished, though, (opaque in two coats) it was super smooth and super shiny. This one could actually go without a top coat if you wanted. Overall, though, I'm giving this a 3 because of the formula and because the color is just, kinda, meh. EDIT: The picture that I uploaded for this picture shows the exact color of the polish on me, in outdoor light, after three coats. I sometimes have trouble photographing and getting the color to look even close but this one was spot on.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -OPI - Designer Series - DS Elegance
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 8:31:00 AM
OPI's Designer Series Elegance is a cool light pink holo (but not too light). The application was superb on this one - super smooth, very fast drying (three minutes between coats), and super shiny (no top coat needed - but I add one anyway). The wear time was great as well - no chips or crazing until day five or six. It's my HG, go-to pink, and I would definite buy this one again.
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Polishes -OPI - Designer Series - DS Chiffon
mudpie1964 3/24/2009 8:26:00 AM
OPI's Designer Series Chiffon is a warm rosy/peachy pink holographic polish. It is super sparkly in the sunlight and even indoors you can see much of the holo effect. The application was super-smooth, opaque at two coats, and very fast drying (about three minutes betwee coats). It dries to a super-shiny finish which makes even a top coat optional. The wear time was also great with minor crazing and cracking at day five. While I like the color and have bought extras I'm on the fence whether it might not be too light. It gives almost a "mannequin hands" kind of effect.
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Polishes -OPI - Rent
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 10:52:00 AM
OPI's Rent is basically a sheer silvery semi sparkly top-coat. In the bottle it looks like it might have a very, very light lavender base but none of the above translates to the nail. I used this as a top coat (bought it on an impulse and hadn't seen it in person) and it took two coats to even show up over another color. Alone, it looked like clear polish with barely any sparkle. Long story short, this one is too sheer to stand alone and too non-sparkly to add much as a top coat. The application was typical OPI quality, though (smooth, quick drying).
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Polishes -OPI - Mamma Mia
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 10:44:00 AM
OPI's Mamma Mia is basically an extremely sheer sparkly pink top coat in the bottle (although it's not advertised as a TC) that does absolutely nothing on it's own or as a top coat. On it's own it would take a huge number of coats to get bottle color and it would never be opaque. As a top coat it doesn't look sparkly until at least three coats. I'm not one to use that many coats of polish so while this is in my collection, I won't be using it again. This is basically the pink version of Rent from the same OPI collection. Thumbs down on this one.
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Polishes -OPI - Pink Before You Leap
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 10:39:00 AM
OPI's Pink Before You Leap is a sparkly very light pink-based top coat (IMO). It's so sheer there's no way you'd be able to get bottle color without a huge number of coats of polish. As a sparkly top coat, it does the job of adding some interest to any otherwise-boring polish. I use it over a couple of creme polishes that just need "something extra." It applies well without bubbles and lasts the usual OPI length that I get out of other polishes (five to six days). I'd buy it again if I needed a sparkly top coat but this will last me quite a while.
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Polishes -OPI - Nutcracker Sweet holiday duo
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 10:08:00 AM
I hate to bring down the reviews and rating on this one but to me OPI's Nutcracker Sweet looked like gray dishwater with a pink flash. It was horrible on me. It's basically a gray'd taupe with a pink duochrome. The pink was beautiful but I couldn't get past the muddy brown of the base color. I'd be interested to see a picture of this one with the glitter top coat (which I don't have). Maybe that might help. I can't comment as to wear because it wasn't on my fingers long enough but application was a breeze. This one has the old formula and old non-ProWide brush so it went on smoothly with no bubbling or streaks.
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Polishes -Maybelline - Express Finish Nail Polish (any color)
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 9:49:00 AM
Maybelline Express Finish Nail Polish has got to be one of the worst products out there. It dries fast all right - TOO fast. You've got to be polishing really, really quickly in order to keep up with this one otherwise you'll end up with a streaky mess (which is what happened with me on the first nail). By the time I'd figured out to move quicker at polishing, I wasn't having much better results. It still applied very streaky and dries to a dull finish. Even a top coat didn't help much. And the true kicker with this one is that I had edge wear THAT SAME EVENING even though I'd done nothing strenuous with my hands for the rest of the day. Needless to say, this came off the next day and went straight in the trash. I'd give is 0 lippies if I could.
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Polishes -Maybelline - Wet Shine- Wet Sand
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 9:44:00 AM
Maybelline Wet Shine Nail Polish in Wet Sand is a shimmery pinkish neutral sand shade (kind of like dry beach sand only a little darker). It's a beautiful neutral shade . . . . however . . . . I have never seen such a bubbly mess in my life. I did my usual routine (base coat, two coats color, top coat) waiting 1/2 hour in between coats (this was before I discovered Seche Vite and haven't had a chance to try this polish with the Seche yet) and then 1 hour after the whole mani was done before doing anything else. This stuff bubbled from coat one of the polish (not the base coat) to the very end. It was very thick and gloopy and I suppose could be thinned but since I've discovered OPI I'm not inclined to want to go back to this one even though I love the color. I've read other reviews of Maybelline products and bubbling so that may be the reason for my results. Thumbs way down on this one. (Now if I can only find a dupe to this color in a quality polish!)
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Polishes -OPI - Blushingham Palace
mudpie1964 3/22/2009 9:36:00 AM
OPI's Blushingham Palace is a frosty medium light pink-rose color. I wasn't impressed with this color because it was way too frosty in a 1970s kind of way and looked like a shade my grandmother (bless her soul) wore back then. The application was a little "off" because of the frostiness (brush strokes) but the whole mani lasted well with no chips or crazing until day five or six (typical OPI quality). Also, it was opaque at two coats. However, I really didn't like this color and had to put a layer of Movin' Out over the top to make it interesting (that's a very neat combination BTW). So I'm giving it a 2 based on the color factor alone and wouldn't repurchase based on that.
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